


You Love Them Only Just As You Lose Them

by FlowerButter42



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22748341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowerButter42/pseuds/FlowerButter42
Summary: So I saw a prompt that was like "what if you had the last words your soulmate said to you on your wrist instead of the first words they said" and I decided to do that with Romanogers and Pepperony. So yeah. The two ships are on different chapters just because.
Relationships: James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	1. Romanogers

Steve always knew what his soulmate’s last words would be. He memorized them. It meant a lot to him to know that he’d actually find someone who loved him. Someone who was meant to be with him.

The only problem? People had said that the words written on your wrist were the last words your soulmate ever said to you.

Meaning you won’t know you had them until you lose them.

The words on his wrist were “See you in a minute”. Kind of a mundane thing. Anyone could say it to him at any time. It hurt him when Peggy’s last words to him weren’t those words but he had moved on. He was determined to find his person even if it was just before he lost them.

“Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends, we lost family, we lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes, no do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know, but it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives, and we're gonna win. Whatever it takes. Good luck,” Steve said to everyone. 

He overheard Rocket and Scott complimenting him.

 _A talking raccoon. I swear this century gets weirder and weirder as time goes by,_ Steve thought. 

Tony shouted something at Bruce but Steve stopped listening. He shot a glance at Natasha that she thankfully didn’t see. She looked more beautiful than normal for some reason.

Over the past five years, Steve tried to be there for her as much as he could. He’d visit her at the compound as often as possible. He tried to cook her dinner once but it was horrible. He was never good at cooking, even when he had to take care of his mom. 

He thought about trying to make a move with Natasha in the past, but they could never seem to have good enough timing. Plus, they hardly knew each other even after being friends for over 10 years. He still wasn’t sure how you could be friends with someone for over 10 years and know next to nothing about them.

5 words broke his train of thought.

“See you in a minute.”

It was Natasha.

Steve’s blood ran cold.

He wanted to stop this, but he couldn’t. He wanted to reach out to her, switch teams, anything to be with her for one more moment.

But he couldn’t.

All he could do was hope that maybe she wasn’t it. He stood there, filled with fear and guilt.

It didn’t exactly surprise him, though, that when Clint came back, he was on his knees. Heartbroken.

And lacking Natasha by his side.

***

Natasha never really cared about soulmates. The Red Room had practically forced her not to. She still looks at the words on her wrist though from time to time. She studies other people’s wrists, seeing if their words are common or something special. 

She knew the words of everyone on the team and a few others. Bruce’s were “You have made this world very proud”, Thor had “You can’t do this to me, Thor”, which she was surprised to see considering Thor isn’t of Earth, Tony had “You can rest now”, Clint had “Drive safe”, and Steve had “See you in a minute”.

Then there was hers. “Good luck”. So….basic. Then again, so was Clint’s. It hurt her to know that something would happen to him while on the road. She hoped his kids weren’t in the car with him. She knew how heartbroken Laura would be to just lose Clint that she couldn’t bear to think how heartbroken she’d be if she lost any of her kids too.

The thought of bringing back everyone made her slightly giddy. They were going to fix their mistake. _She_ could fix _her_ mistakes. Saving millions, hell, _billions_ of people would be enough to wipe the red out of her ledger. That’s all she ever wanted, to right her wrongs. 

She heard Steve utter a “Good luck” at the end of his speech but she shrugged it off. It wasn’t him. He’d never be her soulmate. She wasn’t _that_ lucky. Besides, she just had “Good luck”, not his entire speech. The words had to be alone. Right?

The machine started up and Clint assured Rocket that the ship would be brought back safely. She’d help make sure he kept his promise.

“See you in a minute,” she said with a smile on her face.

What she said didn’t hit her because she knew she and Steve couldn’t possibly be soulmates.

At least, it didn’t hit her until she was looking over the edge of the cliff on Vormir.

One of them had to die. It had to be her. All the words were set in place. Laura wasn’t around and Clint wasn’t about to leave his house. Hell, he had still been on house arrest when everything had happened. 

This was her fate. This is how she’d clear the red from her ledger. After all, sacrifice is the noblest thing a hero could do.

She’d be damned if she let Clint get in her way. The last time he did that was when he was sent to kill her.

She’d made it very clear that he’d never get in her way again, even if they were on the same side.

She just felt bad for Steve. He probably knew this was coming the minute those words fell from her mouth. He’d spent about 40 years, biologically, looking for his soulmate while she never gave a damn.

It just felt so wrong.

Then again, Natasha’s never had the best luck. It wasn’t unusual for life to be cruel to her or the people she cared about.


	2. Pepperony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Same kind of stuff as the Romanogers chapter but with Pepperony. And probably more angst.

Being Tony’s assistant for so many years, of course, he gave Pepper a nickname. Hell, he gave her a nickname for her nickname.

That’s what scared her the most.

None of her close friends called her “Pepper”. That was a nickname given to her by Tony shortly after she joined Stark Industries which everyone else picked up on. That or they’d call her Miss Potts.

But calling her “Pep”? That was something  _ only _ he did.

Which is why she was almost constantly in a state of fear.

For starters, when he started calling her “Pep”, she knew that he was her soulmate. She couldn’t tell how she felt about that fact. She knew he’d never realize it because of his playboy antics, but apparently people change. They got together and that just filled her with more fear because that meant it would hurt so badly when she lost him.

And she’d definitely be there.

Then he became Iron Man which meant that almost every other week, it seemed like, he was coming close to death. She understood why he did it but that didn’t stop her from being worried sick nearly 24/7.

The words were comforting almost though. She knew that if he was doing something that could kill him and “Hey Pep” wasn’t the last thing he said to her, she knew he’d be fine. She knew she’d have a while because he’d always say things like “I love you” or “You better still be here when I get back” before he’d leave. 

She knew what his words were too. “You can rest now.”

Once he started going on about how the rest of the remaining Avengers wanted to pull a “Time Heist”, she had a sinking feeling that he might not be around much longer. She wasn’t sure why, but she just felt that way.

She tried to keep the mindset that since his last words to her hadn’t been “Hey Pep” that there was still a chance things would be okay even though he laid there, already looking like he was dead. She’d never seen him like this. She watched Peter try to get a response from Tony but his efforts seemed futile. She carefully pulled Peter away and gave him to Rhodey.

“Hey,” she said softly. 

He looked her in the eyes. “Hey, Pep,” he said, barely managing to get it out.

And that was the nail in the coffin. He could barely say that so it was unlikely he’d say anything more.

She placed her hand on his Arc Reactor and he rested his hand on hers.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” She just wanted to make sure this is really the end.

“Life functions critical,” the A.I. responded.

The second nail in the coffin.

Tony gave her a small smile while tears started to form in his eyes.

Pepper tried her best to muster a small smile as well. If he could do it on his deathbed, she could do it while she watched him slowly slip away. “Tony, look at me.”

He barely moved his head but made full eye contact with her. She wanted him to see her smiling. She wanted her smile to be the last thing he saw.

“We’re going to be okay. You can rest now.” The words burned on her tongue. 

The Arc Reactor turned dark. 

He was safe.

Just not with her.

***

Pain.

All he felt was pain.

Every part of him was shutting down, he could feel it.

He collapsed against some rubble. He didn’t want them to see him like this. Especially not Peter.

Especially not Pepper.

He couldn’t begin to imagine her face if she saw him. She’d be so broken. But without her, he knew his time couldn’t come. He needed her to say those words. That’s how he’d know that his time was really here. 

Rhodey found him. He looked up at him and Rhodey bowed his head. He was so lucky to have found a best friend like Rhodey in his life. He was his first friend at MIT and had to put up with all of Tony’s shit throughout the years. How did a spoiled brat like him manage to find decent people?

Peter landed in front of him.

_ God, no. Anything but this. I don’t want him to go through any more pain. _

Peter came up to him, tears already started to form in his eyes. “Mr. Stark? Hey, Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. Hey. We won, Mr. Stark. We won, Mr. Stark. We won. You did it, sir. You did it.” His voice was breaking terribly. Tony couldn’t do anything but watch and listen. More parts of him shut down.

He saw a light blue come up behind Peter.

_ No. Not her too. The kid was bad enough. Not you too, Pep. _

“I’m sorry...Tony.”

That was the first time Peter called him Tony. And probably the last. Pepper pulled Peter away gently then bent down to Tony’s level.

She looked great like always. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted them to have that dying kiss moment you see in some movies. But almost everything below his neck stopped functioning.

“Hey,” she said softly.

He looked her in the eyes. “Hey, Pep.” He could barely get it out. He knew that she knew that this was it. They knew what each other’s wrists said. He’d always guessed it was her once he saw her wrist but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t think he was the only one that called her ‘Pep’ but apparently he was.

She placed a hand on his Arc Reactor. He managed to place his hand on top of hers.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” She asked.

“Life functions critical,” the A.I. responded.

Tony gave her a small smile while tears started to form in his eyes.

He could tell she was trying to muster up a smile as well. She was using all the strength she could to not break down. He knew how strong she was. “Tony, look at me.”

He barely moved his head but made full eye contact with her. He hated seeing her trying to put on a fake smile but he wanted to at least see her smile. If there was anything he wanted as the last thing he saw, it was her.

“We’re going to be okay. You can rest now.” 

Oddly enough, he could relax at that. His time had finally come.


End file.
